Mom Boss and Mama Bear: Mom of the Month

November 10, 2018

Lisa

Mom Boss. Friend. Fighter.

These words define our first Mom of the Month, Kelsie.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Kelsie through mutual friends and growing up in the same community. She’s a warm spirit that people just gravitate towards. In her world, family comes first, but that doesn’t stop her from being a successful businesswoman and shop owner.

Kelsie knew from the get-go that she wanted to be a work-at-home mom boss that could balance being a mother and entrepreneur effectively. She tried her hand at many home-based businesses before she fell upon her craft.

“Moving from one home-based business to another just was NOT working. I would fall in LOVE with a product, brand, or business that I used and would stand behind, but eventually, I would fizzle out or grow tired of it.

“It took some time to realize I wanted to truly be my OWN boss (#bossbabe). I always knew I wanted to be able to stay home with my children, and I am forever grateful to my hard-working hubby for being the provider he is! However, these days, two incomes is almost a necessity.”

So, with that, Kelsie collided her reason, her three daughters, with her passion, crafting, in order to create her handmade bow boutique. Her talents are exemplified in the creation of each individual bow.

“I enjoy spending money on something I knew I could make EXACTLY the way I wanted.”

She even allows her regular customers to help name her newest bows, so make sure you join her VIP Page to get involved.

Faced with this difficult diagnosis for her youngest child, Kelsie wasn’t going to back down. She was going to fight. Fight the cancer with swift and decisive action.

And the fight saved her daughter’s life.

“Finding out felt like my world crashed at my feet, and I didn't have time to even worry about picking it up. That was where God rushed in, like a hurricane. I can't explain the weight of that feeling, both the good and the bad,” Kelsie says.

“Our little girl has retinoblastoma, but more than that, she has a plan. A testimony. A will to fight harder than I ever even could for her, but that's all I, we, want to do. FIGHT.”

Within 24 hours of diagnosis, Kelsie rushed Harper and her whole family up to UC San Francisco to effectively seek the life-saving treatment Harper needed.

The family was thrown an onslaught of possible scenarios of treatment, and Kelsie and her husband, continued to fight and chose the best treatment plan for Harper.

“Harper's doctor explained that he had found three more tumors located in her right eye, and the cancer we knew about in her left eye was in Stage E, the worst stage,” explains Kelsie.

“He was able to treat her right eye immediately and avoid intense chemotherapy, but her left eye would need to be removed immediately.

“My heart sank, and yet my worries lessened. Harper was able to avoid months or even years of chemo, her right eye would be cancer-free down the road, and we could almost immediately remove the largest mass of her cancer, but at the cost of one of her beautiful baby blues.

“Again, God's peace poured over my body and instead of being angry, I was grateful. The doctor could have walked out of that room with a far worse answer for my little girl. Instead he walked out with hope, treatment, a plan, and one perfect and healthy baby blue eye!”

Harper’s surgery was a great success, and while she is still on the road to recovery, both doctors and family alike are overjoyed with the news that her cancer had not spread beyond her eyes.

Though Kelsie and her family endured a very nerve-wracking, sad and stressful time this past month, she feels blessed and is stronger than ever:

“I feel like my new outlook is indirectly explained in the way I shared our story,” she says. “I also recognize that now I am no longer just a mother to three girls, I am a cancer-whooping, business-owning, God-fearing, mother who is stronger than I thought capable.

“Advice for moms with sick babies out there: TRUST. YOUR. MOM. GUT. Be a Momma Bear, let the world hear your roar!”

Kelsie is truly an amazing woman and mother, and we couldn’t think of a better mom to kick off our Mom of the Month tribute.

We are also so excited to announce we have partnered with Three Tiny Knots and her shop site is now LIVE for you to support her and her family. Proceeds go to Harper on her road to recovery. Check out her beautiful boutique here.